Archive for June 2012

A federal jury convicted Luis Angel Garcia Torres, 41, of Puerto Rico on 12 counts related to trafficking in counterfeit medicine, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, on June 14, 2012.

Garcia Torres used the internet to purchase the medication, provided advice to the counterfeit manufacturers in China on avoiding detection by US law enforcement, and then sold the fake drugs to undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Houston, TX.

In March, Abbot Pharmaceuticals reported that two instances of counterfeit Vicodin ES had been found, having been purchased on the internet. Vicodin ES is a combination of hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen, used to relieve moderate to severe pain. It is a Schedule III drug, which requires a prescription to be dispensed, and is deemed to…

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has applied to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to own and operate the new .PHARMACY generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD). NABP has announced it has applied for the generic Too-Level Domain .PHARMACY as a "community-based application representing legitimate online pharmacies and prescription drug-related organizations worldwide…

H.R. 3668, the Counterfeit Drug Penalty Enhancement Act, was approved by the House of Representatives on June 18, 2012. Sponsored by Representatives Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), Tom Marino (R-Pa.), and Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.), the House bill has stiffer penalties for drug counterfeiters than the Senate approved version. Reports Bloomberg BNA, the House version of the bill…

World Health Organization (WHO) representative Michael O’Leary has announced that China now has five anti-malaria drugs that have met WHO standards for prequalification. China Daily reports that a study released in January 2012 by the Wellcome Trust cites Chinese manufacturers as a major source of counterfeit anti-malaria drugs in Asia and Africa. Head researcher…

On May 24, 2012, Thomas Christi, Acting Office Director for the FDA’s Office of Drug Security, Integrity and Recalls sent warning letters to Pharmawest Pharmacy and Best Price Rx, two Canadian pharmacies known by their websites www.bestpricerx.com and www.northwestpharmacy.com. The warning letters state that the FDA has determined that the companies’ websites “offer an unapproved…

Canadian citizen Andrew Strempler, 38, founder of Mediplan, which fulfilled online medicine orders for ten websites, appeared in federal court in Miami on Thursday, June 14, 2012. He is expected to be arraigned on charges related to a 2005 seizure of drugs shipped by Mediplan into the US. The medications were purported to be Canadian, but US FDA officials claim the medications were actually from other countries, reports the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC).